US aims to win without firing a shot

Before the US brings out its supersecret weapons, it is trying "psy-war". Garry Barker reports.

Before the first bombs fall on Baghdad or US marines storm across the Iraqi frontier, technology will have penetrated, perhaps even destroyed, Saddam Hussein's defences.

If, or when, this war starts, it will look more like a scene from Star Wars than a replay of Operation Desert Storm. Every electronic asset in the massive US high-tech arsenal will be used. Military planners intend to mount "invisible" attacks designed to cripple computer networks, power grids and telephone exchanges.

Their electronic armoury includes powerful airborne "ray guns", highly accurate guided missiles, sophisticated electronic surveillance systems and psychological weapons aimed at undermining support for President Saddam at the heart of his regime, say American officials.

The campaign includes emails to Baath Party leaders and a wave of calls to the mobile phones of senior officials close to the Iraqi leader and, in a throwback to World War II, floods of leaflets are to be dropped on towns and military camps.

"The goal of information warfare is to win without ever firing a shot," said James Wilkinson, spokesman for General Tommy Franks, commander of forces in the Gulf. "If action does begin, information warfare is used to make the conflict as short as possible."");document.write("

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Pentagon strategists believe that "psyops" could hold the key to resolving one of the most difficult problems of planning the war with Iraq - how to prevent Mr Saddam from using weapons of mass destruction or a Goetterdaemmerung scenario in which he causes environmental destruction.

An outbreak of war will bring the deployment of super-secret weapons such as an airborne "lightning bolt" generator developed for the US Air Force. It is capable of focusing millions of watts of microwave energy in a tightly controlled beam that would fry the computers that Iraq needs to control its army and launch its missiles.

With that and similar advanced electronic weapons mounted on fleets of C-130 and C-135 aircraft, the US could turn off the lights in Baghdad without firing a shot.

The "lightning bolt" weapon was developed by scientists working for the US Air Force in New Mexico, and has been successfully tested. US reports say that in action it would be carried by large unmanned aircraft such as the 737-sized Global Hawk that was test-flown from the US to South Australia two years ago. The weapon flashes intense beams of energy earthward with an accuracy of two or three metres. Yet, despite its immense power, the scientists say the pulse of energy is of such short duration that humans nearby would be unaffected.

The US Air Force's official website notes: "The low-collateral-damage aspect of the technology makes high-power microwave weapons useful in a wide variety of missions where avoiding civilian casualties is a major concern."

Less futuristic, but perhaps more promising, the psychological attack on Iraq is already under way. Barrages of email hit the computers of Baath Party leaders and torrents of calls are made daily to the mobile phones of selected Iraqi officials. The message is simple: "Desert Saddam Hussein. Do not let him tarnish the reputation of Iraqi soldiers by using them to persecute your people." In short, mount a coup and avoid a damaging war.

Similar messages are being broadcast to towns and villages beyond Baghdad. Airborne radio stations carried by big, slow C-130 freighters broadcast in Arabic programs that mimic the style of Iraqi stations such as The Voice of Youth, run by Mr Saddam's son, Uday.

The programs include Euro-pop and 1980s American rock music intended to appeal to young Iraqi troops, whom intelligence specialists believe are more likely to lay down their arms before an allied assault. But, so that other listeners will not be alienated, the stations also broadcast traditional Iraqi folk music, along with news broadcasts prepared by US Army psychological warfare experts at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Leaflets dropped on Iraqi anti-aircraft emplacements and military camps are blunter in their message, warning gunners that guided missiles will wipe them out if they fire on allied aircraft. "We are trying very hard to be empathetic with the Iraqi military," said a US psy-war official, quoted yesterday by The New York Times. "We understand their situation. Same for the Iraqi population. We wish them no harm."

But the same official conceded that allied pilots ordered into enemy airspace would rather see the guns hit by rockets than by leaflets. Bomb damage can be assessed by satellite and unmanned aircraft cameras. Psychological success is harder to photograph.